Saved by surgery

A type of pulmonary hypertension, CTEPH can be cured but is often undiagnosed

With the patient in suspended animation, her body temperature at 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) to stop blood circulating, University of Iowa cardiothoracic surgeon Jay K. Bhama, MD, delicately removed the clot blocking the pulmonary artery. Then the real work began as he painstakingly stripped out the inner lining of the affected blood vessel, 2 to 3 inches at a time, right down to the narrowest branch points in the lung. Read more …